Ben Carson Once Bravely ‘Redirected’ a Gunman to Someone Else

Earlier this week, in the wake of the Umpqua Community College shooting, Ben Carson talked about what he might do if he found himself in a similar situation. “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me,” said the increasingly popular Republican presidential candidate. “I would say, ‘Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all.’” Regardless of whether Carson’s imagined response is brave or stupid (or both), it has little in common with the time he was actually confronted by a gunman.

Carson told the story during a Wednesday interview with Sirius XMRadio:

“I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye’s,” Carson said, reportedly referring to a Baltimore location of the fast foodchain.

“Guy comes in, puts the gun in my ribs,” he added. “And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind thecounter.’”

“He said, ‘Oh,OK.’”

“So, you just redirected him?” asked Sirius host Karen Hunter. “I just redirected him,” Carson confirmed, chuckling a bit. So, it seems like everything turned out all right — but it certainly wasn’t thanks to any heroics on the part of BenCarson.